Eritrea backs Saudi Arabia in diplomatic row with Canada

The Eritrean government has officially waded into a diplomatic row between Saudi Arabia and Canada. Asmara said it stood with Saudi Arabia on the issue.

In a statement issued earlier this week, Eritrea described Canada's actions as irresponsible and provocative and tasked Saudi to chiefly defend its sovereignty.

Saudi Arabia accused Canada of interfering in its internal affairs after the Canadian foreign ministry tweeted that the Kingdom should release detained "civil society activists."

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The full Eritrean statement read: "The Government of Eritrea condemns the irresponsible, provocative and audacious statement issued by the Canadian Government against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to advance certain political agendas.

"The Government of Eritrea calls on the Saudi Government to take appropriate measures both for the sake of its sovereignty as well as to ensure respect of international law."

The said row which has been rolling on for the past few days started with a tweet over human rights and now the feud between Saudi Arabia and Canada has escalated into a sizeable diplomatic rift between the two nations.

Saudi Arabia has kicked out the Canadian ambassador and recalled its representative. It has also halted all new investments, cut flights and arranged for Saudi patients and students in the country to be moved elsewhere.

Meanwhiles the Canadian government insists that it is not backing down on the stands it has taken calling out Saudi on human rights. Eritrea is the second Horn of Africa country to take a stand on the issue following a similar move by Somalia. Countries in the region are known to have close ties to the Middle East giant.

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